Search

For each of these scenarios, select if you believe these are the actions of a reasonable employer or not.

How to find the right candidate Remove candidates that do not meet your criteria Screen those that you are considering with a quick phone call or email Put together the interview questions After interviewing each candidate, write down your thoughts about them. This will help you to whittle them down further if you need to. Important points to remember: You cannot ask discriminatory questions during the interviews. These include about family plans, gender, race, sex or disabilities. You should let candidates know if they should expect further contact and when, particularly around decision making. Review this document: Employer Direct Interview Template

Here are some further scenarios. Example #1: An employee has been swearing during their shifts over the past year. This has made some other employees uncomfortable and they have raised this informally with you. You have decided not to do anything previously because you thought it was just 'banter'. However you are now going through a disciplinary process over repeated absences with this employee and raise this ongoing and repeated behaviour. Is this acting in good faith, being communicative and reasonable? Not really. Swearing repeatedly in the workplace is not related to the absences and despite knowing about it, you have not raised this previously. In a worse case scenario, it could appear that you were trying add to the allegations of misconduct that the employee was facing in order to impose a more serious sanction, or that your decision was predetermined. Example #2: During Covid lockdowns, your business was down by 40%. This was concerning and you were worried about the ongoing future of your business. You asked your employees to take a 20% pay cut as otherwise there would be redundancies or the business would close. Is this acting in good faith, being communicative and reasonable? No, you are not genuinely consulting your employees but giving them an ultimatum.

Watch this free webinar from Kiwiboss for some tips on being a better people manager. Download this free workbook to get started! Like what they do? Get a 20% discount on their 'Leader’s Guide to Performance Management' using our code EMPDIRECT1 at checkout.

This module is designed to give you a good grounding in the basics of employment law and HR practices for creating a great workplace environment. This includes training, development and performance management. At the end of this module you should be able to confidently do these things with assistance from the Employer Direct document library. Once you have completed this modules, your skills and knowledge will be assessed through an online quiz.

Developing your employee's skills and acknowledging their performance is an important part of the employment relationship. Employees who know where there are opportunities for development, progression and training and who receive constructive feedback have better morale. This means that they are more productive, positive and stay in your business longer, contributing more. After you complete each part of this module, your knowledge will be assessed through a series of questions. At the end of this module you should be able to confidently do these things with assistance from the Employer Direct document library.

Recruitment is expensive - Business.govt.nz estimates that the average cost of recruitment is $1,500 per employee. We'd tend to agree, whether you choose to outsource this to a recruiter or use your own valuable time. Upskilling your employees is beneficial to their morale - Investing in your employees makes them invest in you. They feel valued, are more engaged and more productive. Upskilling your employees is beneficial to your business - Engaged employees have less absences. They also think about ways to better the business, providing valuable insights or out-of-the-box thinking that can drive your business forward. It also means that you have people eager and ready to progress when you have vacancies, limiting the future cost of recruitment.